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* Alliance & Leicester Group Treasury plc Guarantor: Alliance & Leicester plc

Premarketing began this week for the Eu1.5bn IPO of Telekom Austria, with investors unanimous in their opinion that the company will have to be priced cheaply if its is to get away in the current climate for telecoms stocks. The Merrill Lynch and CAIB led deal is being compared to similar sized incumbents such PT, Swisscom and Eircom.

A ballooning of its spreads has sent the Republic of Argentina on a quest for alternative sources of funding to the international bond market, including more domestic bond issuance and possibly even an international syndicated loan. "We know that the markets are going through much turbulence, so we are thinking of some other means of dealing with it," said Daniel Marx, Argentina's finance secretary.

A ballooning of its spreads has sent the Republic of Argentina on a quest for alternative sources of funding to the international bond market, including more domestic bond issuance and possibly even an international syndicated loan. "We know that the markets are going through much turbulence, so we are thinking of some other means of dealing with it," said Daniel Marx, Argentina's finance secretary.

Warburg Dillon Read (WDR) announced the launch of its on-line trading system for Euro-MTNs yesterday, the first of its kind in the market. This virtual market place will provide real time pricing and information for over 400 investment grade issuers and institutional investors. Only levels for vanilla trades are shown on screen, although a second phase of development with increased features is set for January 2000. And Gavin Eddy, executive director at WDR claims the format has endless possibilities. WDR also began on-line trading in Euro-CP in April this year. Eddy says: "On-line trading will fundamentally change the way business is done in Euro-MTNs and WDR intends to establish itself as the leading investment bank for innovative technology."

Despite looking into the abyss on Wednesday, when stock markets looked set to plunge the financial world into a desperate October to match those of the Russian and Asian crises, fixed income players can look forward to the coming week with a hint of optimism. On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened sharply lower, hitting levels not reached since March 1999. Depressed by earnings warnings and missed forecasts from both old and new economy stocks, and few signs of peace in the Middle East, investors panicked.

France Franco-Italian food company Eridania Béghin-Say (EBS) has mandated BCI and Deutsche Bank to arrange a Eu400m revolver.

Market report Compiled by Gerard Perrignon, RBC DS Global Markets, London

JP Morgan kicked off roadshows for IX Europe's £90-£114m IPO on Monday, with bankers claiming core support from UK small and mid-cap funds despite the difficult conditions for technology related issues. Books for the LSE listing close on November 1, following roadshows in the UK, continental Europe and the US. Trading begins on November 8.

Though the Webster's conference may not have attracted the classiest of sponsors (step forward Sanwa and Bear Stearns) it managed to pull in issuers keen on bankers' hospitality. ABN Amro apparently planned an evening at ultra-trendy Quo Vadis restaurant for all its supposedly loyal clients. But not enough of them replied and the party had to be axed. The venue was soon full, though, as the next night CSFB hosted its do at the Soho joint. CSFB's Simon Hill and Julie Edinburgh behaved themselves better than the last lot of MTNers allowed loose in Quo Vadis, which used to show art from the bad boy of Brit Art, Damien Hirst. Who remembers the trader who managed to nick a pickled shark from the eatery back in 1998? And the CSFB desk had better behave. Their ex-boss, Matt Carter, joined them in Canary Wharf on Monday from DLJ. Matt's now running emerging markets syndicate but sits right behind Julie and Simon and the other DLJ arrival on the MTN desk, Luca Favero. Seen at Webster's was Pieter van Dyck who is onto his third job in under a year. Since leaving ABN he has quit DCM-Online and works for Daily Capital. Also there was fellow conference junkie, Keith Phair, ex-head of HSBC, who now gives wise advice to Marconi.